The Last Rhinos: A New Hope (2025) Movie Script
1
[heavy breathing]
[inspirational music playing]
[theme music playing]
[birds chirping]
[reflective music playing]
-Fatu... Come on, guy.
Here.
These are the last two
northern white rhinos on earth.
Their names are Najin and Fatu.
Hi, hi. Good Girl.
She loves to be stroked
behind the ears and, um...
under the belly also,
just like here.
Yeah, I've had her for 15 years,
so we are good friends.
Good girl, Najin.
But because of human failure,
human greed, the result is
just only the two we have.
Najin, she's 31 years old.
That is like about six
years in human lifetime.
And her daughter,
she's 20 years.
So they are mother and daughter,
watching each other get
older every day with no new
babies to teach and care for.
-Hi, Fatu. Hi, Fatu.
She's had some good
mud baths, it looks like.
In the early 1900s,
there were thousands
of northern white rhinos
roaming the plains
of Central Africa.
But due to poaching,
that number was down to only
15 by the 1980s.
Today, there are only
these last two females left.
I've been following this
story for over 15 years,
documenting a team called
BioRescue as they attempt a new
scientific procedure to save
the northern white rhino here
on a protected
preserve in Kenya.
-You see the young
21-year-old female and then
the 32-year-old female.
So it's a clear
difference in body shape.
We have a clock ticking on
us always with this project.
The last two northern
white rhinos are getting old.
They will not be here forever.
The males are already gone.
There's no natural
breeding anymore.
The only chance
would be via IVF.
[Ami] IVF is a reproductive
procedure where eggs and sperm
are combined in a laboratory.
The embryo is then implanted
into the uterus of the mother
to grow into a baby.
But IVF in a rhino has
never been done before.
The first step is
collecting oocytes, or eggs,
from the last living
northern white rhinos.
That's what the scientists
will attempt to do tomorrow.
[Thomas] She's beautiful.
Beautiful lady.
And hopefully you
will have a baby soon.
We are scientists
doing a procedure which was
never done before.
And if we fail, then the
northern white rhino is gone.
And that is on our shoulders.
My colleagues and I have poured
our life into this project,
so tomorrow is a very big day.
[upbeat music playing]
The night before
the ovum pick-up is
always quite challenging.
You have all these
ideas what can go wrong.
If we make a mistake,
it can have such
consequences that
there is an internal bleeding,
there is an anesthesia
which is too deep and
the animal never wakes up again.
[Zacharia] The first thing
we do is to check
how they're doing.
We don't want him to be nervous.
Fatu, come on, Fatu.
[Ami] Zacharia, you
can feel his stress.
He knows what the stakes are.
This is like his baby.
[Zacharia] Fatu.
I've looked after
them for 11 years,
and they do recognize my voice.
-This way. One more. OK.
OK, wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
OK, let her go.
Back.
Yeah, that's fine. That's fine.
Leave her.
Make sure that she stacks
the horn in the corner.
That's fine.
Leave her like this.
Cool, guys.
[Ami] The anesthesia is a
really important piece of it.
This is what Frank does.
If he doesn't get the
formula exactly right,
these animals can die.
[Frank] Two milligram deto,
100 milligram ketamine.
Okay, you can go higher now.
[Ami] These procedures
can be incredibly risky.
I mean, can you imagine
a 2,000-pound animal with
a horn waking up?
[Frank] Oxygen is deep in.
[Thomas] We had some accidents.
I lost a disc in my backbone
because working with elephants.
I broke my collarbone
with a rhino.
So there's some risk,
but we have to know that
our patient is dangerous.
It's not a teddy bear.
But doing this procedure
is for us the only chance.
[speaking in foreign language]
This one, small one.
There's two, actually.
Have you seen that?
Next to each other. Yeah.
[speaking in foreign language]
[Frank] Remember that
this ovary is down on the
lower side, yeah?
[Thomas] Yeah. Okay.
-Is this left or right?
[Thomas] Left, and
it's on the lower side.
[Frank] Okay.
[Thomas] Good.
Good for the kids.
Yep. Perfect.
[Frank] Okay guys,
crossed one hour border time.
-They're keeping
close track of the time.
You know, they can't
keep her under anesthesia
for that long.
[Thomas] Okay, stop. Yep.
[overlapping chatter]
Okay, okay. Very good.
Okay, let's go.
At the end, when we
finish the harvest,
the second phase happens,
and we have to find the oocyte.
Searching for the eggs or
oocyte takes place in a form of
shipping container,
which gets very hot.
And also, it is very
attractive for flies,
and you have to focus very
strongly on the microscope.
You play with the light and
then suddenly you see this
purple light coming out
of a cell and then you know
that is what you want.
Is that a good one?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, it looks good.
-That is what we do.
The reason why we are here.
This is the beginning
of new life.
Robert, 19 oocytes.
-Yay!
[cheering]
Good.
Best result ever.
[Robert] Yes!
-Yep.
[Ami] 19 oocytes means 19
potential chances to create
new baby northern white rhinos.
-We never had such
result before.
Never.
The best in any rhino.
We are extremely grateful.
Okay, now I have to
pack again, sorry.
Sorry, that is the second part.
Otherwise we miss our
flight and lose our harvest.
Okay.
-As soon as they're done,
it's complete chaos.
They quickly get all
their suitcases and then
whizzed to the airport.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[laughter]
[Ami] It's a race against the
clock to deliver the eggs to
the lab in Italy
and turn those oocytes
into viable embryos.
[Thomas] We have maximum
48-hours after collection
when the oocyte
needs to be processed.
Otherwise, the
project will fail.
[inspirational music playing]
[Ami] I have been
documenting the story of
the northern white rhino
since 2009.
[camera shutter clicking]
I have probably made 40
trips which I have largely
self-funded because this
is one of the most important
stories of our lifetime.
[camera shutter clicking]
My goal is to reach as many
people as possible and inspire
them to care.
[audience applause]
Hello!
Hello, SLO!
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Good evening. Wow.
I thank you all for coming out.
I am so excited to be back here.
Back in 2009, I met a
rhinoceros named Sudan
for the first time.
And quite unexpectedly,
this gentle,
hulking creature changed
the way I see the world.
I literally felt like I
had just seen a unicorn.
I was so moved by him, and
I couldn't believe that we,
humanity, had
reduced them to this.
[reporter] The world's last
male northern white rhino
has died.
A wildlife conservancy
in Kenya says the
45-year-old rhino
named Sudan died from
age-related complications.
Sudan was euthanized
after his condition
worsened significantly.
[Zacharia] I cared for Sudan
every day for almost 10 years.
He was so special
because he knew he was so
strong and so powerful.
But I think he also
knew he needed our help.
I can still remember the
last day we lost him.
Everything stands still.
[Ami] The moment
when Sudan died,
the last male
northern white rhino,
it was just this realization
that this is what we've done.
I only took two frames of that
because I didn't want the sound
of my camera to disturb the
sacredness of the moment.
And that picture,
I never expected
it to be so symbolic.
I think people saw it and
recognized it's our last chance.
[reflective music playing]
It was actually Sudan's
death that was a real spark.
Everybody began to understand
there's no more time.
After the eggs are extracted,
they have to be fertilized
within 48 hours.
Cesare's laboratory is amazing.
There's this high-tech
thing going on,
but then right outside are
all of these cloned animals.
That's where you get
this feeling like, oh,
we're playing God here.
But this technology means
saving the northern white rhino
just might be possible.
[Thomas] The eggs will be
fertilized with a sperm which
comes from two different bulls.
Both are passed away,
one in 2015, one in 2014.
It's quite a
challenging operation.
The sperm which is
injected will develop into
this new cell and then
new life starts to grow.
The miracle of life is
something that is so fragile.
It can be destroyed so easily.
Rhinos survive for millions
of years against drought,
predators, and the
forces of nature.
But in just a few decades,
humans nearly wiped them out.
Now every day that passes
without a new baby on the
ground is one day closer
to the northern white rhino
being gone forever.
So there's always this
clock ticking on us.
And our time is almost up.
[Ami] This is how we
imagine wildlife roaming the
open plains of Africa.
That's not actually what
it's like today for rhinos.
This is what it's like.
They have to be guarded
around the clock 24-7 by
heavily militarized men
because the value of their horn
is worth more than gold.
They are being
poached to extinction.
And it's not just the
northern white rhino.
It was just announced
that we have lost 73% of the
world's wildlife
in the last 50 years.
I just could not stop
thinking about this.
And I started researching
and reading everything
I could about this story.
I wanted to understand,
what do we do?
Is there hope?
How do we stop this?
And I just started asking
one simple question,
which I could not find
in any of the stories.
What do the people who live
right next to the animals think?
Do they care about them?
And actually, it has led me
down this amazing path of
finding the most extraordinary
people that do care.
We can often forget that the
best protectors are those
people who are living
alongside the animals.
They are the ones out
there fighting that fight
every single day.
[Thomas] There are only two
animals on earth capable of
providing the eggs
needed to make
northern white rhino embryos.
But even that is
in jeopardy now.
-One of these tumors
may even become malignant,
so that's the risk we
don't want to take.
[Thomas] The results of
Nadine's recent health check
shows that sadly she is too
sick to provide any more eggs
to the program.
So the number of new
embryos we can make now rests
solely on Fatu.
The extinction of this
species is on a razor's edge.
Every day that passes is
one day closer to losing the
last northern white
rhinos on Earth.
[somber music playing]
[Zacharia] I remember the
first time I saw a rhino,
it was so exciting.
[Zacharia] I want these rhinos
to be here for my daughters.
And for the next generation.
[Ami] Only five rhino
species remain on Earth.
Three are in Asia,
and two are in Africa.
Losing any of these rhino
species brings us one step
closer to losing
all rhinos forever.
Unfortunately, neither
of the last two surviving
northern white rhinos
are healthy enough
to carry their own pregnancy.
Saving the northern white rhino
depends on scientists
using closely related southern
white rhino females as
surrogate mothers to carry the
embryos created in the lab to a
full-term pregnancy.
But none of this has
ever been done before.
It's a scientific first.
-We're in Amsterdam.
I'm about to board the plane.
This has been the
most stressful and also
exciting 24 hours.
I got a call.
I was in the middle of
a talk in California,
scrambled to get here,
and it is just so exciting.
We're at the enclosure now.
We're driving up to the
northern white rhinos.
And right next door to them
are the southern white rhinos.
And the sun is coming up.
And there's just so
much anticipation.
Here we are.
[Thomas] Good morning, everyone.
We are extremely proud
to be here today because
it will be the first
time that an embryo from
a rhino source will be
implanted into a wild rhino.
That is a very big step.
[Frank] 50 milligram
butorphanol,
which is five milliliter
from this stuff.
[Thomas] We agreed in a quite
intensive discussion that it
would be more wise to use a
southern white
rhino embryo first.
If the embryo transfer of
our southern white rhino
embryos is successful,
then we would continue with the
northern white rhino embryos.
Everything of these
steps are new ground,
and therefore it is so
important to, to practice.
[intense music playing]
It's a little bit like
sending a man to the moon,
because as everyone knows,
not all of these missions
were successful.
[Frank] Okay, let's go.
Okay, good luck.
Good luck.
[intense music playing]
[overlapping chatter]
[Frank] Ready to go?
[overlapping chatter]
[Zacharia] Okay.
[Thomas] And more here, here.
-It's 36.
-OK.
[overlapping chatter]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Thomas] We will see.
[reporter] An international
team of scientists has
successfully implanted an embryo
into a southern white rhino
for the first time.
[reporter] It's a historic
international effort from teams
all across the world,
working quickly to save a
species before it's too late.
[reporter] The procedure
was carried out with
southern white rhinos,
which are closely
related to northern whites.
The surrogate in Kenya
is healthy and 70 days
into its pregnancy.
[Thomas] Now it is a waiting
game to see if it's actually
possible to grow a healthy
baby rhino via IVF.
But on a personal level,
putting so much time and energy
into this project has been
especially difficult recently.
My wife is a cancer patient,
and she had finished
her first chemotherapy
in May last year.
But unfortunately and
very tragically it turned out
she had a relapse of
her cancer and it is
not treatable anymore.
So she will die soon.
But we both agreed that this
is important for both of us.
It's a mission we want
to achieve together.
So that is our agreement
and that is my dream.
I think all these wonderful
people working with us,
they have the same mission.
We have to provide
the final proof.
When the first northern
white rhino calf is born,
I think I can relax a
little bit more and give the...
the flag to someone else.
But first we have
to achieve that.
[Ami] Last time I was here,
I had to race to the airport,
fly to Kenya, and they
implanted that embryo into the
southern white rhino surrogate.
But then something
terrible happened.
Six weeks after the procedure,
we got word that something
was wrong at the preserve.
Tragically, both rhinos died
before anyone could help.
It took weeks before
we really even understood
what had happened.
[Ami] In this tragic
moment came a ray of hope.
During the autopsy,
they found this viable
70-day-old male embryo
in her womb.
It was this
heartbreaking moment,
but at the same time,
this huge breakthrough.
[Thomas] Three and a half
years working very hard,
and that's really a milestone.
It's the first ever pregnancy
caused by an embryo transfer
in a rhino source.
[reporter] In another
world first,
a southern white rhino
became pregnant by IVF,
but the mother and the
baby died from an infection.
[Thomas] Unfortunately, we
lost it when it was 70 days.
But this little baby provided
us with a complete success
story that everything
was working,
and we could start
immediately with the
northern white rhino embryos.
Now, next time we come
with very precious cargo.
[Ami] The pregnancy
proved the process works.
But the loss of the surrogate
and teaser bull was a big hit
to the project.
[Thomas] It took months of work
on the ground in Kenya to get
the project back on track.
Introducing a new southern
white rhino surrogate.
And then capturing and
sterilizing a new teaser bull.
[overlapping excited chatter]
Now we are finally ready to
bring a new northern white rhino
baby into the world.
We begin by preparing the
frozen embryos for the long
trip to Kenya.
I have a number 2.
Can you write that?
- Yeah.
- 2 minus 3, 1.
Everything is very fragile.
If they heat up, they are dead.
Okay, perfect.
A lot of pressure.
A lot of pressure
on our shoulders.
[upbeat music playing]
[Ami] Now the stakes are much
higher using the precious
northern white rhino embryos
for the first time ever.
It's easy for people who may
not be close to these animals
to think that these are
habituated creatures.
They're not.
These were wild rhinos
that we are working with.
You realize so many
things have to be perfectly
in place for it to go right,
and it doesn't take a lot
for things to go wrong.
[Frank] Our new
teaser bull, Jomo.
He's not approachable
like the other one.
And he is known for
ramming vehicles.
So we have to do the darting
this time by helicopter.
Julia is with you and has
prepared the ketamine dart.
[dramatic music playing]
[Thomas] The plan is to dart
the female so we can perform
the embryo
implantation procedure.
And hopefully we can
keep Jomo away without having
to dart him.
He wants to be near the female,
but it's too dangerous
during the procedure.
So we are a little bit
under time pressure.
Our team is already in the air.
As soon as they dart the female,
we have 30 minutes to
thaw the frozen embryo and
get it implanted.
[Frank] Okay, just get as
close as you can to the female.
-Yeah!
[Frank] The first dart
only slows her down.
It takes two darts to
put her on the ground.
[intense music playing]
[Frank] Jomo is running
away now as well.
We're clear.
He has left the area.
[Thomas] The surrogate is down,
the bull is away,
and now Frank is
preparing the anesthesia.
[overlapping chatter]
[Frank] Yeah.
Can we have some water here
for, to clean the ear?
Yeah, yeah.
You okay?
You need help?
-Yeah.
-Wait. Push it a
little bit over there.
Get the leg out.
Okay guys.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
Get the leg out.
One, two, three.
Yeah, good.
Yeah, have a look, wait.
[Thomas] So we get a
call and then we start our
procedure here and
joining them very soon
for the transfer.
[Julia] This perfect
little embryo,
which is barely
visible with the eye,
to thaw it in a safe way,
it is very stressful, yes.
[Thomas] Embryo
delivery is coming!
[cheering]
[Thomas] We have
in our catheter,
this little tiny 100
micrometer big object which
we transfer into this
gigantic uterus.
It's a very
complicated procedure.
So we are aware that every
step of that is so sensitive,
it can easily fail.
It's a very tense procedure
for everyone involved.
[cheering]
[Thomas] It's in, yeah.
The embryo was
released and this incredible
moment we have all been
dreaming of for so long has
finally been achieved.
We placed it in an
optimal position,
so we are quite hopeful that
this first attempt in the world
ever has success.
Now it's on nature and
praying and we will see
what, what happens.
[Ami] This moment, I haven't
actually fully processed it yet.
Today, I am reminded that it
takes these kinds of people
reimagining a world
where we can save species
literally from the
brink of extinction.
[Thomas] Historical moment.
Good. Now...
[sighs]
[heavy breathing]
[inspirational music playing]
[theme music playing]
[birds chirping]
[reflective music playing]
-Fatu... Come on, guy.
Here.
These are the last two
northern white rhinos on earth.
Their names are Najin and Fatu.
Hi, hi. Good Girl.
She loves to be stroked
behind the ears and, um...
under the belly also,
just like here.
Yeah, I've had her for 15 years,
so we are good friends.
Good girl, Najin.
But because of human failure,
human greed, the result is
just only the two we have.
Najin, she's 31 years old.
That is like about six
years in human lifetime.
And her daughter,
she's 20 years.
So they are mother and daughter,
watching each other get
older every day with no new
babies to teach and care for.
-Hi, Fatu. Hi, Fatu.
She's had some good
mud baths, it looks like.
In the early 1900s,
there were thousands
of northern white rhinos
roaming the plains
of Central Africa.
But due to poaching,
that number was down to only
15 by the 1980s.
Today, there are only
these last two females left.
I've been following this
story for over 15 years,
documenting a team called
BioRescue as they attempt a new
scientific procedure to save
the northern white rhino here
on a protected
preserve in Kenya.
-You see the young
21-year-old female and then
the 32-year-old female.
So it's a clear
difference in body shape.
We have a clock ticking on
us always with this project.
The last two northern
white rhinos are getting old.
They will not be here forever.
The males are already gone.
There's no natural
breeding anymore.
The only chance
would be via IVF.
[Ami] IVF is a reproductive
procedure where eggs and sperm
are combined in a laboratory.
The embryo is then implanted
into the uterus of the mother
to grow into a baby.
But IVF in a rhino has
never been done before.
The first step is
collecting oocytes, or eggs,
from the last living
northern white rhinos.
That's what the scientists
will attempt to do tomorrow.
[Thomas] She's beautiful.
Beautiful lady.
And hopefully you
will have a baby soon.
We are scientists
doing a procedure which was
never done before.
And if we fail, then the
northern white rhino is gone.
And that is on our shoulders.
My colleagues and I have poured
our life into this project,
so tomorrow is a very big day.
[upbeat music playing]
The night before
the ovum pick-up is
always quite challenging.
You have all these
ideas what can go wrong.
If we make a mistake,
it can have such
consequences that
there is an internal bleeding,
there is an anesthesia
which is too deep and
the animal never wakes up again.
[Zacharia] The first thing
we do is to check
how they're doing.
We don't want him to be nervous.
Fatu, come on, Fatu.
[Ami] Zacharia, you
can feel his stress.
He knows what the stakes are.
This is like his baby.
[Zacharia] Fatu.
I've looked after
them for 11 years,
and they do recognize my voice.
-This way. One more. OK.
OK, wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
OK, let her go.
Back.
Yeah, that's fine. That's fine.
Leave her.
Make sure that she stacks
the horn in the corner.
That's fine.
Leave her like this.
Cool, guys.
[Ami] The anesthesia is a
really important piece of it.
This is what Frank does.
If he doesn't get the
formula exactly right,
these animals can die.
[Frank] Two milligram deto,
100 milligram ketamine.
Okay, you can go higher now.
[Ami] These procedures
can be incredibly risky.
I mean, can you imagine
a 2,000-pound animal with
a horn waking up?
[Frank] Oxygen is deep in.
[Thomas] We had some accidents.
I lost a disc in my backbone
because working with elephants.
I broke my collarbone
with a rhino.
So there's some risk,
but we have to know that
our patient is dangerous.
It's not a teddy bear.
But doing this procedure
is for us the only chance.
[speaking in foreign language]
This one, small one.
There's two, actually.
Have you seen that?
Next to each other. Yeah.
[speaking in foreign language]
[Frank] Remember that
this ovary is down on the
lower side, yeah?
[Thomas] Yeah. Okay.
-Is this left or right?
[Thomas] Left, and
it's on the lower side.
[Frank] Okay.
[Thomas] Good.
Good for the kids.
Yep. Perfect.
[Frank] Okay guys,
crossed one hour border time.
-They're keeping
close track of the time.
You know, they can't
keep her under anesthesia
for that long.
[Thomas] Okay, stop. Yep.
[overlapping chatter]
Okay, okay. Very good.
Okay, let's go.
At the end, when we
finish the harvest,
the second phase happens,
and we have to find the oocyte.
Searching for the eggs or
oocyte takes place in a form of
shipping container,
which gets very hot.
And also, it is very
attractive for flies,
and you have to focus very
strongly on the microscope.
You play with the light and
then suddenly you see this
purple light coming out
of a cell and then you know
that is what you want.
Is that a good one?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, it looks good.
-That is what we do.
The reason why we are here.
This is the beginning
of new life.
Robert, 19 oocytes.
-Yay!
[cheering]
Good.
Best result ever.
[Robert] Yes!
-Yep.
[Ami] 19 oocytes means 19
potential chances to create
new baby northern white rhinos.
-We never had such
result before.
Never.
The best in any rhino.
We are extremely grateful.
Okay, now I have to
pack again, sorry.
Sorry, that is the second part.
Otherwise we miss our
flight and lose our harvest.
Okay.
-As soon as they're done,
it's complete chaos.
They quickly get all
their suitcases and then
whizzed to the airport.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[laughter]
[Ami] It's a race against the
clock to deliver the eggs to
the lab in Italy
and turn those oocytes
into viable embryos.
[Thomas] We have maximum
48-hours after collection
when the oocyte
needs to be processed.
Otherwise, the
project will fail.
[inspirational music playing]
[Ami] I have been
documenting the story of
the northern white rhino
since 2009.
[camera shutter clicking]
I have probably made 40
trips which I have largely
self-funded because this
is one of the most important
stories of our lifetime.
[camera shutter clicking]
My goal is to reach as many
people as possible and inspire
them to care.
[audience applause]
Hello!
Hello, SLO!
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Good evening. Wow.
I thank you all for coming out.
I am so excited to be back here.
Back in 2009, I met a
rhinoceros named Sudan
for the first time.
And quite unexpectedly,
this gentle,
hulking creature changed
the way I see the world.
I literally felt like I
had just seen a unicorn.
I was so moved by him, and
I couldn't believe that we,
humanity, had
reduced them to this.
[reporter] The world's last
male northern white rhino
has died.
A wildlife conservancy
in Kenya says the
45-year-old rhino
named Sudan died from
age-related complications.
Sudan was euthanized
after his condition
worsened significantly.
[Zacharia] I cared for Sudan
every day for almost 10 years.
He was so special
because he knew he was so
strong and so powerful.
But I think he also
knew he needed our help.
I can still remember the
last day we lost him.
Everything stands still.
[Ami] The moment
when Sudan died,
the last male
northern white rhino,
it was just this realization
that this is what we've done.
I only took two frames of that
because I didn't want the sound
of my camera to disturb the
sacredness of the moment.
And that picture,
I never expected
it to be so symbolic.
I think people saw it and
recognized it's our last chance.
[reflective music playing]
It was actually Sudan's
death that was a real spark.
Everybody began to understand
there's no more time.
After the eggs are extracted,
they have to be fertilized
within 48 hours.
Cesare's laboratory is amazing.
There's this high-tech
thing going on,
but then right outside are
all of these cloned animals.
That's where you get
this feeling like, oh,
we're playing God here.
But this technology means
saving the northern white rhino
just might be possible.
[Thomas] The eggs will be
fertilized with a sperm which
comes from two different bulls.
Both are passed away,
one in 2015, one in 2014.
It's quite a
challenging operation.
The sperm which is
injected will develop into
this new cell and then
new life starts to grow.
The miracle of life is
something that is so fragile.
It can be destroyed so easily.
Rhinos survive for millions
of years against drought,
predators, and the
forces of nature.
But in just a few decades,
humans nearly wiped them out.
Now every day that passes
without a new baby on the
ground is one day closer
to the northern white rhino
being gone forever.
So there's always this
clock ticking on us.
And our time is almost up.
[Ami] This is how we
imagine wildlife roaming the
open plains of Africa.
That's not actually what
it's like today for rhinos.
This is what it's like.
They have to be guarded
around the clock 24-7 by
heavily militarized men
because the value of their horn
is worth more than gold.
They are being
poached to extinction.
And it's not just the
northern white rhino.
It was just announced
that we have lost 73% of the
world's wildlife
in the last 50 years.
I just could not stop
thinking about this.
And I started researching
and reading everything
I could about this story.
I wanted to understand,
what do we do?
Is there hope?
How do we stop this?
And I just started asking
one simple question,
which I could not find
in any of the stories.
What do the people who live
right next to the animals think?
Do they care about them?
And actually, it has led me
down this amazing path of
finding the most extraordinary
people that do care.
We can often forget that the
best protectors are those
people who are living
alongside the animals.
They are the ones out
there fighting that fight
every single day.
[Thomas] There are only two
animals on earth capable of
providing the eggs
needed to make
northern white rhino embryos.
But even that is
in jeopardy now.
-One of these tumors
may even become malignant,
so that's the risk we
don't want to take.
[Thomas] The results of
Nadine's recent health check
shows that sadly she is too
sick to provide any more eggs
to the program.
So the number of new
embryos we can make now rests
solely on Fatu.
The extinction of this
species is on a razor's edge.
Every day that passes is
one day closer to losing the
last northern white
rhinos on Earth.
[somber music playing]
[Zacharia] I remember the
first time I saw a rhino,
it was so exciting.
[Zacharia] I want these rhinos
to be here for my daughters.
And for the next generation.
[Ami] Only five rhino
species remain on Earth.
Three are in Asia,
and two are in Africa.
Losing any of these rhino
species brings us one step
closer to losing
all rhinos forever.
Unfortunately, neither
of the last two surviving
northern white rhinos
are healthy enough
to carry their own pregnancy.
Saving the northern white rhino
depends on scientists
using closely related southern
white rhino females as
surrogate mothers to carry the
embryos created in the lab to a
full-term pregnancy.
But none of this has
ever been done before.
It's a scientific first.
-We're in Amsterdam.
I'm about to board the plane.
This has been the
most stressful and also
exciting 24 hours.
I got a call.
I was in the middle of
a talk in California,
scrambled to get here,
and it is just so exciting.
We're at the enclosure now.
We're driving up to the
northern white rhinos.
And right next door to them
are the southern white rhinos.
And the sun is coming up.
And there's just so
much anticipation.
Here we are.
[Thomas] Good morning, everyone.
We are extremely proud
to be here today because
it will be the first
time that an embryo from
a rhino source will be
implanted into a wild rhino.
That is a very big step.
[Frank] 50 milligram
butorphanol,
which is five milliliter
from this stuff.
[Thomas] We agreed in a quite
intensive discussion that it
would be more wise to use a
southern white
rhino embryo first.
If the embryo transfer of
our southern white rhino
embryos is successful,
then we would continue with the
northern white rhino embryos.
Everything of these
steps are new ground,
and therefore it is so
important to, to practice.
[intense music playing]
It's a little bit like
sending a man to the moon,
because as everyone knows,
not all of these missions
were successful.
[Frank] Okay, let's go.
Okay, good luck.
Good luck.
[intense music playing]
[overlapping chatter]
[Frank] Ready to go?
[overlapping chatter]
[Zacharia] Okay.
[Thomas] And more here, here.
-It's 36.
-OK.
[overlapping chatter]
[suspenseful music playing]
[Thomas] We will see.
[reporter] An international
team of scientists has
successfully implanted an embryo
into a southern white rhino
for the first time.
[reporter] It's a historic
international effort from teams
all across the world,
working quickly to save a
species before it's too late.
[reporter] The procedure
was carried out with
southern white rhinos,
which are closely
related to northern whites.
The surrogate in Kenya
is healthy and 70 days
into its pregnancy.
[Thomas] Now it is a waiting
game to see if it's actually
possible to grow a healthy
baby rhino via IVF.
But on a personal level,
putting so much time and energy
into this project has been
especially difficult recently.
My wife is a cancer patient,
and she had finished
her first chemotherapy
in May last year.
But unfortunately and
very tragically it turned out
she had a relapse of
her cancer and it is
not treatable anymore.
So she will die soon.
But we both agreed that this
is important for both of us.
It's a mission we want
to achieve together.
So that is our agreement
and that is my dream.
I think all these wonderful
people working with us,
they have the same mission.
We have to provide
the final proof.
When the first northern
white rhino calf is born,
I think I can relax a
little bit more and give the...
the flag to someone else.
But first we have
to achieve that.
[Ami] Last time I was here,
I had to race to the airport,
fly to Kenya, and they
implanted that embryo into the
southern white rhino surrogate.
But then something
terrible happened.
Six weeks after the procedure,
we got word that something
was wrong at the preserve.
Tragically, both rhinos died
before anyone could help.
It took weeks before
we really even understood
what had happened.
[Ami] In this tragic
moment came a ray of hope.
During the autopsy,
they found this viable
70-day-old male embryo
in her womb.
It was this
heartbreaking moment,
but at the same time,
this huge breakthrough.
[Thomas] Three and a half
years working very hard,
and that's really a milestone.
It's the first ever pregnancy
caused by an embryo transfer
in a rhino source.
[reporter] In another
world first,
a southern white rhino
became pregnant by IVF,
but the mother and the
baby died from an infection.
[Thomas] Unfortunately, we
lost it when it was 70 days.
But this little baby provided
us with a complete success
story that everything
was working,
and we could start
immediately with the
northern white rhino embryos.
Now, next time we come
with very precious cargo.
[Ami] The pregnancy
proved the process works.
But the loss of the surrogate
and teaser bull was a big hit
to the project.
[Thomas] It took months of work
on the ground in Kenya to get
the project back on track.
Introducing a new southern
white rhino surrogate.
And then capturing and
sterilizing a new teaser bull.
[overlapping excited chatter]
Now we are finally ready to
bring a new northern white rhino
baby into the world.
We begin by preparing the
frozen embryos for the long
trip to Kenya.
I have a number 2.
Can you write that?
- Yeah.
- 2 minus 3, 1.
Everything is very fragile.
If they heat up, they are dead.
Okay, perfect.
A lot of pressure.
A lot of pressure
on our shoulders.
[upbeat music playing]
[Ami] Now the stakes are much
higher using the precious
northern white rhino embryos
for the first time ever.
It's easy for people who may
not be close to these animals
to think that these are
habituated creatures.
They're not.
These were wild rhinos
that we are working with.
You realize so many
things have to be perfectly
in place for it to go right,
and it doesn't take a lot
for things to go wrong.
[Frank] Our new
teaser bull, Jomo.
He's not approachable
like the other one.
And he is known for
ramming vehicles.
So we have to do the darting
this time by helicopter.
Julia is with you and has
prepared the ketamine dart.
[dramatic music playing]
[Thomas] The plan is to dart
the female so we can perform
the embryo
implantation procedure.
And hopefully we can
keep Jomo away without having
to dart him.
He wants to be near the female,
but it's too dangerous
during the procedure.
So we are a little bit
under time pressure.
Our team is already in the air.
As soon as they dart the female,
we have 30 minutes to
thaw the frozen embryo and
get it implanted.
[Frank] Okay, just get as
close as you can to the female.
-Yeah!
[Frank] The first dart
only slows her down.
It takes two darts to
put her on the ground.
[intense music playing]
[Frank] Jomo is running
away now as well.
We're clear.
He has left the area.
[Thomas] The surrogate is down,
the bull is away,
and now Frank is
preparing the anesthesia.
[overlapping chatter]
[Frank] Yeah.
Can we have some water here
for, to clean the ear?
Yeah, yeah.
You okay?
You need help?
-Yeah.
-Wait. Push it a
little bit over there.
Get the leg out.
Okay guys.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
One, two, three.
Get the leg out.
One, two, three.
Yeah, good.
Yeah, have a look, wait.
[Thomas] So we get a
call and then we start our
procedure here and
joining them very soon
for the transfer.
[Julia] This perfect
little embryo,
which is barely
visible with the eye,
to thaw it in a safe way,
it is very stressful, yes.
[Thomas] Embryo
delivery is coming!
[cheering]
[Thomas] We have
in our catheter,
this little tiny 100
micrometer big object which
we transfer into this
gigantic uterus.
It's a very
complicated procedure.
So we are aware that every
step of that is so sensitive,
it can easily fail.
It's a very tense procedure
for everyone involved.
[cheering]
[Thomas] It's in, yeah.
The embryo was
released and this incredible
moment we have all been
dreaming of for so long has
finally been achieved.
We placed it in an
optimal position,
so we are quite hopeful that
this first attempt in the world
ever has success.
Now it's on nature and
praying and we will see
what, what happens.
[Ami] This moment, I haven't
actually fully processed it yet.
Today, I am reminded that it
takes these kinds of people
reimagining a world
where we can save species
literally from the
brink of extinction.
[Thomas] Historical moment.
Good. Now...
[sighs]